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Alexander Siddig
Alexander Siddig is an actor best known for his portrayal of Julian Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He also appeared as Dr. Bashir on Star Trek: The Next Generation in the episode "Birthright, Part I". Biography He was born as Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abderahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi in the Sudan, in Northern Africa, but spent most of his life in Great Britain where he attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). His uncle on his mother's side is actor Malcolm McDowell; another uncle, on his father's side, was once the prime minister of Sudan. When he began acting, he adopted a shortened version of his name, Siddig El Fadil. He then changed his acting credit to Alexander Siddig at the start of the fourth season of Deep Space Nine, reportedly because people had difficulty pronouncing his birth name. According to Siddig, the name "Alexander" was chosen "out of a hat". (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion) His directorial credits remained as El Fadil for the two DS9 episodes he directed: "Business as Usual" and "Profit and Lace". A union between Siddig and his Deep Space Nine co-star Nana Visitor produced a son, Django El Tahir El Siddig. Visitor's pregnancy was covered up on-screen by having the unborn child of the married Keiko O'Brien (played by Rosalind Chao) transplanted to the womb of Visitor's character, the unmarried Kira Nerys. Django was born on 16 September 1996, during production on the DS9 episode "Let He Who Is Without Sin...". Siddig and Visitor were married on 14 June 1997. The two divorced in 2001, two years after Deep Space Nine left the airwaves. Since then, he has courted actress Kim Cattrall, herself a Star Trek alumnus, having played Valeris in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. They were first seen in public at Glamour's Women of the Year Awards ceremony in London on 9 June 2005. http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/cattrall%20finds%20love%20with%20costar As of December 2006, it is not known what has become of their relationship. Career Siddig first appeared to television audiences as Prince Feisal in the 1990 made-for-TV sequel to Lawrence of Arabia entitled A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia. When auditions came for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1992, Siddig was originally considered for the role of Benjamin Sisko, but was reportedly deemed too young for the role. Following the end of Deep Space Nine in , Siddig began starring in major motion pictures. In 2000, he appeared as an ill-fated mountain climber in Vertical Limit. Two years later, he had a role in the fantasy action film Reign of Fire, alongside Trek guest star Alice Krige (the two did not share any scenes together). He went on to star in two major films in 2005: Ridley Scott's epic Kingdom of Heaven and Stephen Gaghan's highly-acclaimed Syriana. His performance as reformist Arabian Prince Nasir Al-Subaai in the latter film has garnered Siddig much praise and even early talks of a possible Oscar nomination. Syriana also stars fellow Trek performers Christopher Plummer, Robert Foxworth, and David Clennon. His most recent film appearance was in the Biblical drama The Nativity Story, in which he played the angel Gabriel. This will be followed by the war epic The Last Legion, set during the last days of the Roman Empire and opening in August 2007. He is currently filming a futuristic action thriller entitled Doomsday, co-starring with his uncle, Malcolm McDowell. On stage, Siddig appeared with Kim Cattrall in a production of the play Whose Life Is It Anyway in 2005. It was as a result of this pairing that Siddig and Cattrall, both alumni of the LAMDA, began dating soon afterwards. Although starring primarily in films and on stage, Siddig continues to perform for television on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2003 he guest starred in an episode of the popular BBC spy drama series Spooks (screened as MI5 in the United States). In 2005, he lent his voice to the "Patriot Games" episode of Family Guy, an animated series created by Trek fan Seth MacFarlane. Also in 2005, he appeared in a major role in an episode of the British detective series Agatha Christie's Poirot entitled "Cards on the Table". In 2006 he starred in the BBC television movie Hannibal, playing the title character. Siddig recently played former terrorist Hamri Al-Assad in the sixth season of the hit FOX TV series 24, which also features James Cromwell. Other Trek actors to appear this season include Michael Reilly Burke, Roger Cross, Gregory Itzin, Glenn Morshower, Natalia Nogulich, Raphael Sbarge and Maury Sterling. Appearances *DS9 ** All episodes except "Paradise", "Blood Oath", "The Collaborator" and "For the Uniform" *TNG **Birthright, Part I Additional roles Directorial Credits * **"Business as Usual" **"Profit and Lace" Trivia *He goes by the nickname of "Sid". *He is 6'0" tall. *Interestingly, his character in Vertical Limit was named Kareem Na'z'''ir while his character in ''Kingdom of Heaven is called Na's'''ir. In ''Syriana, he starred as an unrelated character also named Nasir. Both of the latter films were set in the Middle East. *There is a character in Siddig's Kingdom of Heaven named "Odo" (played by Jouko Ahola). There is, of course, a character with the same name (played by Rene Auberjonois) on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. External Links * Official Website * * * Alexander Siddig at TV.com Siddig, Alexander Siddig, Alexander Siddig, Alexander Siddig, Alexander de:Alexander Siddig es:Alexander Siddig pl:Alexander Siddig